Joe Morton: ‘I Know What’s In The Envelope, But Can’t Tell You’

In a now classic “Scandal” scene, Rowan Pope told his only daughter Olivia that he was both “the hell and the high water” and that it was time for her to hightail it out of Washington on the private plane he had at her disposal and disappear after it was revealed that she and the President were having an affair.

In true Pope style, Olivia declined the offer and strode off to her office where her gladiator team stepped in and saved the day. If you follow this storyline then you, obviously, are “Scandal” fans. Actor Joe Morton, who plays Rowan Pope with such enthusiasm, says he doesn’t think he’s that tough a dad in real life. The father of two daughters says that one of his daughters, though, did say the scene gave her some flashbacks.

“My youngest – sounds like maybe l yelled at her like that when her room wasn’t clean,” Morton admitted to the Tom Joyner Morning Show. The pivotal scene where he tries to convince his daughter to flee the country took 6 hours to shoot, though it only last for a few moments.

As Rowan Pope, the shadowy head of B316, which currently has Olivia’s former spy/lover locked into a hellish-looking hole for disobeying orders, Morton has to be secretive about a lot of things. Yes, he knows what’s in the mysterious envelope Cyrus saw last week but no, he’s not saying, and no, viewers won’t find out this week. But he’s gotten good at keeping secrets since even Kerry Washington didn’t know he was playing her father until the pivotal episode when it was revealed to everyone.